The Federal Transit Administration rejected funding for the Metro to Dulles project. FTA head James S. Simpson sent a letter to Gov. Kaine formally rejecting the plan.

The reasons for the rejection are:

- The project receives only a "Medium-Low" rating, making it "ineligible to advance into Final Design."
- "Even if MWAA were able to improve the New Starts rating, however, other factors have led FTA to doubt that there is a "reasonable likelihood" that the Project in its current form would...meet the statutory criteria in the future."
- "FTA is concerned that the cumulative risks and uncertainties that characterize the Dulles Project in its current form are extremely likely to result in further cost escalation and schedule delays."
- "The Dulles Project...has encountered an extraordinarily large set of challenges including changes in mode and sponsorship, a revised termination point, a dramatically escalating budget, delays in the development of the public-private contract, local dissension about the design of the project, and lawsuits."
- "...the sheer number and magnitude of the current Project's technical, financial, and institutional risks and uncertainties are unprecedented for a candidate New Starts project..."

In other words, the Metro to Dulles project is REJECTED...at least for now.

Click here to view the FTA Rejection Letter

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine asked regulators yesterday to tell him how to change the plan for the Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport to qualify for federal funding. Kaine said in an interview after sending the letter to the Transportation Department and Federal Transit Administration, is that he wants them to tell him, in specific terms, what Virginia must do.

In his letter, Kaine reiterated his belief that each of the issues had been addressed previously. He included hundreds of pages of documents to support that claim, and he emphasized "the strength of the current project and its compliance with the federal statutes."

But even as the governor held fast to that view, he also made clear -- in agreeable, nonconfrontational language -- that he wants direction from Washington on how to fix the project.

"We want to fully understand your concerns and then look creatively at how to resolve them to allow the project to continue forward," Kaine wrote. "If we need to make additional adjustments -- small or large -- to proceed forward into final design, we are ready to explore those with you."

The FTA issued a short statement upon receiving Kaine's letter: "The agency will review those documents in the coming days and respond accordingly."